This invention relates to manifolds for heat exchangers, and more particularly to manifolds that are a multi-piece fabrication with one of the pieces being a header piece and another of the pieces being a tank piece.
Heat exchanger manifolds that are multi-piece fabrications with one piece being a tank piece and another piece being a header piece are well known. One problem associated with such multi-piece manifolds is maintaining the longitudinal edges of the tank and header pieces in a proper orientation with respect to each other when the two pieces are bonded together so as to form a fluid-tight bond. This problem can occur for many types of bonding operations, particularly for brazing operations which require accurate location between the mating surfaces in order to form a suitable braze joint. There have been many past attempts to address this problem by providing features on the header and tank pieces that engage each other so as to locate the header and tank pieces relative to each other during the bonding operation. While at least some of these past attempts may have been suitable for their intended purpose, there is always room for improvement.
It is the principal object of this invention to provide a new and improved manifold construction for a heat exchanger.
This object is achieved in an elongated manifold construction having a longitudinal axis for heat exchanger having a plurality of tubes extending from the manifold. The manifold includes an elongated tank piece and an elongated header piece. The elongated tank piece includes a pair of spaced longitudinally extending tank edges and a tank wall extending from one of the tank edges to the other to define a cross-sectional shape for the tank piece transverse to the longitudinal axis. The tank edges face a common direction. The elongated header piece includes a pair of spaced longitudinally extending header edges and a header wall extending from one of the header edges to the other to define a cross-sectional shape for the header piece transverse to the longitudinal axis. The header edges face a direction opposite the common direction. At least one of the tank and header pieces further includes at least two embossed beads spaced along the longitudinal axis in the wall adjacent the edges of the at least one of the tank and header pieces. Each embossed bead has a terminal end spaced from one of the edges of the at least one of the tank and header pieces and facing the other of the tank and header pieces. Each of the terminal ends has an opening therein. At least one of the tank and header pieces further includes a plurality of tabs spaced along the longitudinal axis in each of the edges of the at least one of the tank and header pieces and extending toward the other of the tank and header pieces to engage in the openings in the terminal ends of the embossed beads.
In one form, the embossed beads are in the tank wall and the tabs are in the header edges.
In one aspect, the embossed beads are in the header wall and the tabs are in the tank edges.
According to one form, at least one of the embossed beads includes a pair of terminal ends, with one of the pair of terminal ends being the terminal end with the opening and the other of the pair of terminal ends located adjacent the same edge as the terminal end with the opening.
In one form, at least one of the embossed beads includes a pair of terminal ends, with one of the pair of terminal ends located adjacent one of the edges of the at least one of the tank and header pieces and the other of the pair of terminal ends located adjacent the other of the edges of the at least one of the tank and header pieces. The at least one of the embossed beads extends across the wall from one of the pair of terminal ends to the other of the pair of terminal ends. Each of the pair of terminal ends has one of the openings receiving one of the tabs.
In accordance with one aspect of the invention, an elongated manifold construction having a longitudinal axis is provided for a heat exchanger having a plurality of parallel tubes extending from the manifold. The manifold construction includes an elongated tank piece and an elongated header piece. The tank piece has a back wall and two tank side walls extending from each side of the back wall to define a U-shaped cross-section transverse to the longitudinal axis. The tank piece further including at least two embossed beads spaced along the longitudinal axis. Each embossed bead has a pair of terminal ends and extends across the back wall and partially down each of the tank side walls to each of the terminal ends. Each of the terminal ends has an opening formed therein. The elongated header piece has a tube receiving wall and two header side walls extending from each side of the tube receiving wall to define a U-shaped cross-section transverse to the longitudinal axis. Each of the header side walls has a plurality of tabs spaced along the longitudinal axis and extending away from the tube receiving wall to engage in the openings in the tank piece.
Other objectives and advantages will become apparent from the specification, including the appended claims and drawings.